Deconstructed
by Last Haven
Summary: After the city is destroyed, Raven ends up with some unlikely companions as she tries to find her teammates and discover a way to save the city. Surving in the decimated city is dangerous and Raven will need all the help she can get to survive.
1. Defeat

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.**

**This story project is actually from a community of writing prompts, so the chapters in semi-short one-shots.**

**The prompt for this chapter is:**

"**Defeat"**

* * *

"Is she--?"

"--Not sure. She's--have to hurry--'chior might be--help her."

"He can! –can help her, it's –'ior!"

A sigh. "Wh--er, but we got--urry or we'll--se her."

She felt hands tugging at her shoulders, boosting her up, while another pair of hands tugged on her arms, pulling her up. _Where am…what's…happened?_

"'urry, --'izmo!" urged a small voice, tugging on her.

"I'm going, I'm --ing! Not my f--lt she we--s a ton!" retorted a high, gravelly voice behind her. She moaned in spite of herself, trying to sit up.

"She's waking up!" gasped the tiny voice in front of her.

_I recognize…these voices!_

"'s about time," grumbled the voice behind. "Still, we should find--oi, there he is! Yo! Malchior! Little help here!"

"--chior!" she tried to gasp, pull herself away. She knew that name!

A clear, aristocratic voice snorted in front of her. "Well, I must say, Raven, I'm so glad you remember me at least. Charmed, promise."

She strained, trying harder to pull out of their grasp. "Hey, knock off the wriggling, barfbag!"

"Raven! You'll only hurt yourself worse if you--"

"They're right, Raven," soothed that voice. (_Malchior_, her mind tried to say. _They called him Malchior and he..._

_Betrayed you…_) She, Raven they called her she thought, felt an arm slip around her waist, pulling her up and felt the other hand clamping onto the back of her neck to hold her still. "You're going to hurt yourself worse." She felt the need to snap something back to him, retort something but felt a warm hand press against her face, over her eyes, and felt an icy chill pass over her.

She could see again; icy eyes, blue and piercing were the first thing she saw. She saw behind him, a small blonde child with a short glaring boy sitting next to her. The girl looked at her with open hope in her desperate eyes and more names began to fall into place. Melvin, Gizmo, Malchior, Jump City.

Jump City in ruins.

"What happen…?" she began, looking in horror before looking back at Malchior.

He shrugged. "If this is how you always deal with defeat, darling, I'm glad I didn't see you after my little betrayal."

"Melvin?" she gasped, nearly begging.

The small girl's shoulders shook. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "You're the only one we found yet."

Gizmo huffed, glancing at the destruction. "Ol' Slade did a real number on the town."

"Malchior?" Raven tried, desperately.

He looked at her a moment, pityingly, then mercifully pressed his hand to her face. "Sleep."


	2. Denial

"She's waking up!"

Raven flinched at the high-pitched voice as it pierced her ears, she wanted to bury her head under the pillow but her moving her body was a struggle. When she opened her eyes she saw Melvin, sitting in a chair next to her and half turned to face a door. When she saw who it was that walked through the door, she tried desperately to get up and grab Melvin but could only manage to fight her way up into a sitting position.

Malchior merely raised a brow. "Don't get up on my account, dear," he said as he walked over to her and Melvin.

"Melvin," she hissed. "Get away from him!"

Melvin blinked. "Why? Malchior's only going to-"

"Melvin, I said get away," she barked, making the girl jump.

Malchior calmly laid his hand on Melvin's shoulder. "Don't frighten the child, Raven," he tutted, leaning closer to her. "You've become such a harsh person, what shall we do with you?"

"You lying bastard!" she snapped, fighting to lift her hand to blast him. She reached out to her power only to be violently denied. "What-?" she asked, trying again to call on her power.

"Raven?" Melvin tried, reaching for her.

"I'm afraid you'll find that your powers are quite inaccessible," Malchior told her.

She glared up at him. "Why?"

"Well, forgive my boldness," he started reaching on and yanking the collar of the loose shirt she was wearing down. Before she could snap at him, she caught sight of a mark below her shirt. Reaching up, she took the collar from him and pulled it away from her so she could look down. Above her heart, upon her breast, was the Mark of Scath.

"No…" she breathed.

"Seems Slade got some help from an old source, my dear," he said, pulling back. "Whatever power he didn't siphon off you, he sealed."

"What's that mean?" Melvin asked.

"It means, he bound her power," he answered. "Locked it away so she can't attack him." His gaze slid over to the still shocked Raven and narrowed. "…let's give Raven some alone time, dear."  


Melvin looked from him to Raven but finally slid off her chair and walked towards the door. Before he could join the girl at the door, Raven asked "Where…are the other Titans?"

He paused, shoving his hands into his pockets. "We haven't the foggiest, love," he answered before walking over to Melvin and gently shutting the door. Before he closed it he added one more thing. "We'll tell you if we find them. Sleep for now."

She sat there, still staring down the mark, listening to his words echoing in her ears.


	3. Exit

**Prompt: "Exit"**

* * *

Raven awoke again to the sound of the door slamming open as Malchior and Gizmo hurried inside. Next to her, Melvin groggily sat up (Raven and Melvin had to share the only bed while Gizmo slept on a chair and Malchior, well, apparently never slept) and looked blearily at them.

"'s going on?" Melvin asked, rubbing her eyes.

Raven fought herself into a sitting position but hissed in pain as Malchior forced her back down onto the bed. "What are you-"

"Melvin, time to get up," Malchior said simply as Gizmo began to tug the blonde off the bed.

"Move, pigtails, we need the blanket," Gizmo hissed quietly. Melvin scurried off and Raven felt alone and exposed as Malchior began to wrap the entire comforter around her.

"What is going on!" she snapped at him, still too weak to fight.

"Time for us to make our leave, darling," he said simply, pulling up part of the covers to shield her head and face like her cape had once.

"Slade's crud munching robots have found the building," Gizmo explained, more to Melvin than her really. "Grab anything you need and let's go!"

Raven felt very lost and confused in the racing around that happened next as they exited the building, carried by Malchior. She kept quiet as they ducked around the rumble lining the streets, spying around corners for any scouts. It felt like it was taking far too much time, she felt too exposed, and that if they didn't hurry, they would be caught. They were lucky she knew, to have made it anywhere at all, but as they turned the corner, their luck ran out.

Sladebots. Hundreds of Sladebots, all with their gazes trained on them. Gizmo, next to her, let out an uncharacteristic real swear word that would have made her smack him for saying it in front of Melvin if it weren't for the fact he was absolutely right.

"Oh bloody hell," Malchior muttered, then after a moment. "Raven, I want to you to know I'm very sorry."

She couldn't stop herself. "From what?"

"This," he said and dropped her like a bag of potatoes onto the ground. She screamed at the indignity and pain as she impacted, landing on several rocks. Above her, Malchior was conjuring something in her hands.

"Melvin," Gizmo hissed, "do the shield thing, quick!"

Whatever the shield thing was, it worked because a large white energy shield appeared. Above, Raven saw Malchior had conjured a large ebony bow. As he pulled back the string, black magic formed an arrow that he shot high into the sky. She watched as the arrow spilt into many different arrows and rain upon the robots while Gizmo and Melvin tried to tug her up. Malchior, not bothering to try another shot, scooped her up from them and off they ran.

She realized something there in his arms as they ran. "What happened to your hair?" she asked.

He glanced down at her. "Cut it," then "Did I drop your head on a rock?" She nodded. "Ah. I'll fix it later."

As they ran, she glanced backwards to see if the robots were following. What she saw was the remaining Sladebots were being smashed to bits by falling boulders. "Rocks," she whispered, struggling to remember something, something important to do with rocks. "Rocks?"

"Yes, dear, rocks, hush now," Malchior ordered. Raven realized that they were running to a large pile of rumble with a small opening in front. She frowned and wondered how they could all fit inside when they began to duck in. After a moment, still disoriented, she realized that the ground beneath the pile sunk deeply in, and that there were other people in the large pit, which was not so much a pit as a sunken building. The problem of where they were going solved, Raven began to ignore the others and tried to contemplate the rocks.

"Rocks," she muttered again, as the others began to talk to people. Why did rocks sound so familiar?

Suddenly, she remembered just as she saw a blonde teenager slip in after them. Terra, hair cropped to her chin, without recognition, waved at them.

"Rocks," she surmised and promptly passed out.


	4. Distance

**In case anyone is wonder, the latin in here means: Courage Conquers All. **

**Prompt: distance**

* * *

Terra didn't remember. When Raven heard her talking to Malchior, asking with polite concern if Raven was alright, Raven knew without a doubt she didn't remember her. And, if the few small earthquakes that shook the rocky confines around them, she apparently didn't remember how to control her powers either.

Malchior confirmed as much when he pressed a rough crystal into her hand and she saw Terra, scared and desperate, sink her into school into the ground. "Crystals keep memories long after we lose them," he commented warily as Raven watched her and the others trying to hide their new sanctuary with Terra's powers, covering the remains of the school with debris and hiding the entrance under the pile of rubble they slipped through earlier.

"Beast Boy was right," she mumbled to herself as she laid on the cot given to her and Melvin, still wrapped in the blanket. She wondered if he would be happy to hear her say, tell her 'I told you so'.

At the moment, she'd give anything to hear him say _anything._

She gazed upward at the cracks lining the ceiling of what must have once been a science lab when Malchior sat down next to her. She couldn't help but stare.

"What. Did. You. Do?" she asked, staring at him.

"You seem to have a fascination with my hair, darling," he teased, running a hand through the new ebon locks. "I'll make sure to take good care of it for you if you like it that much."

She glared at him. "I don't give a damn about your hair, what did you do?"

"Well, I didn't precisely do it to myself," he started. "One of the students dropped a bottle of ink onto me and then my hair oddly soaked it up." He reached up and pulled on one of the short tufts in front of his left eye. "All that time in the books finally worn off on this body, I think."

She was about to make a snarky comment when suddenly the ink drained out of his hair, traveled down the back of his neck and down to his back. "What did you do now?"

"Just a little experiment," he said, then surprised her by pulling up his shirt, exposing his back. "See anything?"

_I could count his ribs, _she realized_._ Even his spine made grooves and bumps in his skin. Had she ever seen him eat? Melvin, Gizmo, and herself ate together sometimes but had Malchior? She swallowed and ignored this. "It says 'Virtus Ubique Vincit'" she answered finally. "I didn't realize you liked the phrase."

"Collecting quotes is a hobby of mine," he explained, dropping his shirt. "Happens when you have nothing better to do for a millennium in a book." Then he surprised her by presenting two bottles of ink to her, a red ink bottle and a yellow one. "How about another experiment?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Since Slade took over, the Mark of Scath has appeared everywhere," he explained, opening the red bottle. "It's his symbol at the moment, and you have tattooed across your chest."

"…you want to cover it before someone mistakes me for a servant?" she asked, eyes wide. Then they narrowed. "Awful generous of you."

"Well, that and Melvin and Gizmo refused to let me try the experiment on them," he grinned, closing the distance and dipping some of the ink onto her skin.

"I didn't agree yet!" she snapped.

"Not like you have much of choice, love," he replied. "Unless you do want to be mistaken for a servant of his?"

She glared but didn't fight him as he managed to paint a ball of flame to cover the mark.


	5. Lead

**Prompt: "Lead"**

* * *

They couldn't stay there forever; Raven knew they would get nothing done if they didn't leave the shelter of the destroyed high school with the survivors. Already there had been too many close calls when people almost recognized the strange symbol that would sometimes seep through the "tattoo" that Malchior had painted on her. Gizmo had also been a bit of a problem—the survivors could accept a fallen hero, a young girl, and a strange man but most recognized him from the Hive Five days and the attitude towards him had been less than welcoming.

"It's not fair, they keep picking on him," Melvin complained to her one night.

Gizmo had enough pride left to look annoyed at her. "Stop making it sound like I'm five on a playground!"

"In any case," Malchior interrupted before they could start squabbling. "We need to go, people are watching."

Raven knew what he meant; most would eye her tattoo distrustfully while some would stare blatantly. One too many close calls had set them on guard. Raven didn't want to know what they would do if they did realize what it was exactly. "Any bright ideas on places we can go?"

Malchior shrugged. "I don't know this city that well, love."

"Hive headquarters was destroyed," Gizmo announced gloomily.

Melvin sighed, "The monastery got destroyed too."

"What about Titans Tower?" Raven asked swiftly.

Melvin and Gizmo shared uncomfortable looks while Malchior schooled his face blank. "That…would not be a good idea."

"What happened to the Tower?" she sighed. Considering how often Titans Tower took a hit, she wasn't honestly surprised to hear it might have been broken.

"…Slade decided to…take his frustrations out on it, I suppose," Malchior said.

"The crudmuncher nearly blasted it into pieces," Gizmo answered.

Raven rubbed her brow. "Not shocking," she muttered. Marshalling her strength, she sat up and swung her feet off the cot. "So, when do we go?"

"Whenever we find a place to go," Malchior answered, watching her carefully. "The sooner, the better."

"If you don't mind a detour," said a voice behind them, making them startle. "I think I could lead you to a place."

For the first time since arriving, Raven saw Terra, awkwardly facing them. There was a moment of silence before Malchior spoke. "Looks like we'll be leaving sooner than I thought."


	6. Element

**Prompt: "Element"**

* * *

It was raining and frigid the night, they left the hiding place. Raven, shivering in the unusual cold, never felt more out of her element, wrapped in a blanket in Malchior's arms. With Terra in the lead, who insisted her name was not Terra but Jennifer, they stole into night. Despite the chill and ache it left in her bones—a new experience for the Titan—Raven ignored her discomfort, keeping an eye out for any Sladebots as their motley band walked off.

The first resting place was in the inside of a shattered convenience store. Looters had long since carried off anything useful, including the cash register. They waited long enough to catch their breaths before leaving again.

It was at the second rest that one of them finally broke the silence. This time in a decimated ice cream parlor, they broke out "dinner".

"I really really hate energy bars," Melvin announced, glaring at the offending object.

"It's what we have," Raven reminded her.

Melvin sighed and began to eat. "I know…"

"Jennifer," Malchior started, before any more complaints could be voiced. "How much longer until we get to the last rest point for the night?"

Jennifer paused mid-bite of her own bar and swallowed hard. "There's a gym that's still up. That's where we're heading. We can get some more food and shelter there." After a moment, she went on. "Tomorrow, I want to make a detour."

"What _kind_ of a detour?" Gizmo asked, mutiny underlying his voice. Raven was half tempted to kick him for his ungratefulness but settled for glaring at him and Not-Terra-Jennifer.

Terra/Jennifer shifted. "My house."

"Your house!" he snorted in disdain.

"Why?" Malchior asked, cutting him off.

She sighed. "I haven't heard from my foster parents since the morning of the attack," she paused to take a slow bite of her bar. "I want to see…if maybe…." She looked up, determined. "I need to know what happened to them."

Not where they were, or how they were doing.

What happened to them.

Raven quietly chewed her energy bar, uneasy as the silence settled in again. She didn't know how to reassure people, let alone those who (rightly?) are expecting the worst.


	7. Luck

**I found these chapters on my mother's computer tonight, to my surprise. I really thought this was lost. I decided to post it because I've beginning to feel the Malchior-Raven pairing pulling me back. (I never leave fandoms, merely go through cycles through them.) I might continue this fic, but probably not to the epic it wants to be. Until a decision is made, don't be surprised if this goes back to limbo.**

* * *

They found the gym; when they arrived there, it looked nothing like a gym anymore. A large portion of the southern wall had collapsed, leaving the north side to arch outward a little. Raven was not surprised to find it, despite being a shelter, to be almost completely empty. She learned that it was not so much a safety point as an exit point to the city. People left every few days in groups, trying to leave the city without being caught.

Raven used her weakness as a reason to hide under the covers with Melvin on one side so she wouldn't have to see the haunted looks in people's faces as they eagerly left. Never before had the burning hatred for her helplessness and lack of power taunted her so. For once in her life, she desperately wished for the return of her powers; even at her rebirth, she hadn't wished them back as much as now.

The only highlight of the day was Malchior quietly whispering some rumors he had heard. A vigilante in the far west end was leading a small band to fight Slade. If she had to guess, she would place her money on either Robin or maybe Starfire for the mysterious hero. Unfortunately, there was no news from anything like Beast Boy or Cyborg.

Before Not-Terra came back later that night, Raven tried her first time at walking again. She nearly sank to the floor in a heap before Malchior and Melvin could catch her when Terra-No-Jennifer walked up.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked, smiling so hopefully that Raven almost felt stunned.

"She's a bit wobbly, but I do believe we're good to go," Malchior answered for her.

"And about time," Gizmo added. All day long, people had glared at him leaving him wary for an ambush.

"Just get everything we need and we can go," Jennifer said. "I got the food supplies."

Less than half an hour, with Gizmo hustling them along, they left, stealing out into the night again.

"Where is your house?" Melvin asked, clutching at Terra and Gizmo's hands as she climbed down a pile of rubble.

"Bout two blocks. We'll be there in no time," Jennifer/Terra answered with a smile. It disappeared quickly. "I wonder if there's anything left in my room…"

As they walked on, quieter now, they finally crept upon her home. Raven only guessed it was her home by the way the blonde reacted to the half-there house. She let go Melvin's hand and raced into the remains with Gizmo and Melvin trailing.

Above her, Malchior sighed as he carried her in. "Seems our luck has run out."

When Raven saw the destruction inside, she realized he had no idea how correct he was.


	8. Crumble

It was a miracle there was even a front to the house; when Malchoir stepped through the door, he had to dance around a large hole in the ground. Not more than two yards away, the floor abruptly ended into open air. He and Raven shared a glance before he sat her down on a stair to poke around. "Food supplies," he explained, entering the kitchen.

Upstairs she heard footsteps as the other three ran around. It was tedious sitting there, waiting for him to come back, but even if she had crawled all the way up the stairs, there was a large gap from the top the stairs to the upper floor. She wondered how Gizmo and Melvin made the jump to it.

"This place is crumbling apart," Malchior muttered, reappearing at the door. "And all the food is spoiled—someone already went looting, got everything else to eat."

"Not like there's much of a house to need a security system," Raven pointed out, glancing back to the charred termination of the house. "We really shouldn't have come in here anyway. The whole thing could tumble down in a heartbeat."

"I'll go get them," he said, walking towards her. As he passed by her, he patted her thigh. "Don't go anywhere."

She glared at his retreating back, and rubbed the spot that he touched harder than necessary. "Asshole."

With nothing else to do, she leaned back, and stared up at the ceiling. _So this is where Terra once lived._ It looked like it had been exceedingly normal, and rather well furnished. _Rich people's house_, she decided. She could imagine Terra/Jennifer living with a cozy little family, a normal mom, a normal dad, and a normal baby brother.

_Baby brother…_ Her eyes narrowed up at the ceiling. _Timmy, Teether…where are you?_ Wherever they went held any new information about a pair of boys with a magical teddy bear for a guard. _Where is everyone?_

She heard thumping of feet, and watched as Jennifer hopped down with Melvin in her arms, Malchior with Gizmo a moment later joined them. They were carrying some new bags, and Melvin had a "new" bunny in her arms.

"Where to next?" she asked.

Jennifer and Malchior shared a glance. They didn't know.

"…neighbor's house. We'll camp out for the night," Jennifer decided after a moment. Raven nodded, and Malchior exchanged Gizmo for Raven before they hurried out of the decrepit building.


	9. Funny

They didn't end up sleeping in the house next door, or the other one, or either of the houses next door to those houses; either they were falling apart faster than Terra/Jennifer's home, or the memories chased away Terra's calm, and nearly shook the roof down upon them. They ended up staying in the house second closest to the road because it was in better conditions than the others, and to watch for "traffic", either friendly or Sladebots.

"The water's still running," Malchior announced as he tried the faucet in the kitchen. This set off an argument as to who would take a bath first (water was precious, and as 'gross' as it sounded, they needed to share the water). Terra and Melvin helped (a humiliated) Raven into the tub, and Melvin jumped in with her. It took a moment for the water to kick on (the pressure was getting low), but then it finally began to pour.

For Raven (and really, everyone else) this was the first time she had a real bath in weeks. It was over too fast though, and Raven switched with Jennifer. Fighting with her jeans, she had to wait until Terra was done before she could leave the bathroom. It was either that, or ask Malchior to come in, and carry her out, and Jennifer refused to let him in while she was in the tub.

By the time the blonde was done, Raven was getting desperate to leave. _If Melvin or Terra tried to draw me into conversation one more time…_

Gizmo slipped into the bathroom behind them, and Terra dropped Raven off in a bedroom before hurrying downstairs with Melvin. "I want to see what Malchior cooked," Terra explained, already slipping out.

Raven frowned. "Malchior can cook?" she muttered to herself.

Alone by herself, she sat at the end of the bed, bored and anxious in the strange house. With nothing better to do, and with no one around, she took a deep breath, and grabbed hold of the base board. Hefting herself up, her knees gave out and she fell back on the bed.

"This is ridiculous," she grumbled then tried again. She didn't even get up as far before she fell back. "Damn it."

"This would be funny, if it weren't so sad," Malchior announced from the doorway. Raven fell straight to the floor. "Sorry, should I have knocked?"

"Go away," she demanded, trying to pull herself back up.

"I think you should wait to have someone with you if you're going to try standing by yourself," he advised, sauntering over to her. "Now, do you want help or not?"

"I think I'd rather just rot here on the floor."

"Good to see your sense of humor wasn't crippled as the rest of you."

"I am not crippled!" she snapped.

He muttered something she couldn't catch, and hefted her up onto the bed despite her (half-hearted) objections. "Supper will be done in a bit. Practice later," he ordered before he left.

After a moment, she sighed as she flopped backward. "I liked him better when he was a book."

"I liked you better when you listened to me!" he called from downstairs.


	10. Leave

They ended up staying in the house longer than originally planned. The house itself had been ravaged by looters but some of the neighboring houses had been spared so for a while it became a sort of base of operations. The water was limited for cooking and emergencies only, so if they wanted another bath, they had to try to find another bathtub in one of the other houses. Despite the fact that two of them were (proud) villains, the other two heroes, and one who defied either category, none of them felt the need to separate for long.

Not that any of them hadn't thought of it. Fact was they were fraying on each other's nerves. Malchior and Raven especially. Malchior, for reasons unknown, had decided to keep an eagle eye vigil over her, not that he tried to help her much. Mostly he just made sure she didn't crack her skull open as she tried to re-master the art of standing on her own two feet. Then again, this probably was the most dangerous activity she could really do, and she had come perilously close to giving herself a concussion twice.

"Don't lock your knees," he advised.

"Go away," she hissed, gripping the base board.

"You're going to end up back on the floor again."

"I will not-"

She fell, slumping down against the board. Too proud to ask for help, she tightened her grip, and tried to heft herself back up.

"I warned you," he commented. "Need help, or do you plan on staying like that for the rest of the day?"

"Go to hell."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged, and leaned back in his chair to watch her struggle. After awhile he spoke up. "Oh, for god's sake." He got up, and pulled her off the ground.

"I can do it myself!" she snapped.

He frowned. "Fine." Then he let go. Problem was he had turned her about so she couldn't catch the base board. She flailed out instinctively, and grabbed hold of his shirt. To keep her from yanking him down as well, he reached out, and caught her arms, leaving both of them to find themselves in a precarious position.

Nose to nose, quite literally, they looked surprised at each other, Raven for the fact he had caught her, him for the fact she had latched onto him willingly.

_Too close!_ She thought, fighting the urge to fidget. "Let go," she mumbled.

"Do you want to be back on the floor?" he shot back quietly.

She couldn't give an honest reply to that one. "Malchior…" she started to retort, but her anger got lost, and all she could do was gape back at him.

Awkwardly, he picked her up, and deposited her on the bed.

"We need to leave," she announced, surprising him. "There's nothing left for us here."

He stared at her before finally nodding, understanding her real meaning. He turned and left, for some reason she'd probably never accurately guess, leaving her to flop back on the bed.

There was nothing there for them. And she didn't mean for Melvin, Gizmo, or Terra.


	11. Sin

**WARNING: Malchior's eating habits could possibly be quite unpleasant to some readers. Just saying. (It helps to remember that, yes, Malchior IS a 100 percent dragon in this fic.)**

**Prompt: Sin**

* * *

They left the next night; Jennifer—who Raven was slowly, slowly trying to stop calling to her as "Ter—Jennifer"—led them down two streets into an abandoned building. It used to belong to a friend of Jennifer's, a classmate that had tried to leave after Jennifer sunk the school but never reappeared afterward. By far, it was the nicest, most stable house they had stayed in for a long time. It sent a shiver up Raven's spine to realize she based that comparison more along the facts that none of the ceilings leaked or floors dipped rather than if the house was aesthetically pleasing.

They would remain for another three days until they can figure out where to go next. Raven only wanted to head in the direction the mysterious superhero was showing up in to see if it was one of the Titans. Other than that, she cared little. In truth, this was the most anyone could agree on.

There had been an argument earlier between Jennifer, Gizmo, and Malchior which finally broke up when they agreed to decide in the morning. While the others slept, Raven watched Malchior leave. He was gone before she could stop him (she wasn't sure should wanted to stop him anyway) and sat up, careful not to disturb Melvin as she waited for Malchior to return.

It took longer than she thought, but before dawn, he finally returned.

The first thing she noticed about him was that he seemed…softer, like some of his sharp edges were worn down. As she thought on it, she realized that the gauntness she had come to associate with him and his non-diet had vanished. His clothes hung better, almost taunt at the sudden appearance of filled out flesh.

Next was that his scarf was pulled away, hanging loosely around his shoulders and neck.

Then, that there was something thick and dark smeared over his face, like melted chocolate. His tongue—extraordinarily long for a human, but perfectly suitable to a dragon in disguise—was lapping up most of it, while his hands wiped away what it couldn't reach.

And then her stomach rolled when she suddenly realized just _what_ was on his face as he locked eyes with her, his gaze surprised. Obviously, he hadn't thought she, or anyone for that manner, would be up.

"Raven?"

"Is that _blood?"_ She was going to be ill.

Malchior stared for a long time and shrugged. "I didn't kill anyone if that's what you're wondering," he explained. "This is one of the few things that fairytales got right about us dragons. Human flesh is really the only thing that satiates us."

"You **ate** someone's corpse?"

He finished cleaning his face. "It was just lying there." He paused to stare at her and her horror-stricken expression. "I hate disabusing you of any romantic notions, Raven—you have so few about me, I'm sure—but even I need to eat _something."_

"You stay away from Melvin," she declared. "You stay _far_ away."

He wrapped his scarf back up around his face. "Like I would hurt a child. Not enough meat for one." She realized, distressingly, that that was a joke. "Go back to sleep, Raven. You can't get rid of me now, not when you all still need me and my magic."

"I can't trust you—I didn't before but-"

Malchior snorted, resting his hip against the couch's arm. "Don't think I'm not aware of that. But at the moment, you really haven't got much choice in the matter."

The worst thing was he was right.

"Goodnight, Raven," he called, walking back towards the door. "I'll be on watch if you need me."

Shaken and wishing desperately for her friends and teammates, Raven laid back down and clutched Melvin to her side, wishing desperately that the last few minutes could just vanish from her memory.


	12. Stare

**Prompt: Stare**

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The next day passed awkwardly; Raven's discovery of Malchior's eating habits seemed to have managed to upset the others, even if she hadn't told them that anything had happened. Everyone seemed more fidgety, Gizmo perhaps most of all. Raven supposed it was because he had been defenseless for too long—his devices were either broken or useless, meaning he had to rely on the others, something that stuck painfully in his craw.

Eventually, the nervous energy exploded into a screaming fight between him and Jennifer while they had been trying to decide where to go. Raven managed to lurch painfully up off the couch to snag Jennifer's wrist, even if she ended up half on the floor. It distracted Jennifer long enough that Melvin practically tackled Gizmo to shut him up.

"Stop it, you two!" Raven hissed. "Or do you want Sladebots just crawling in here in an instant once they hear you two squabbling?"

That was enough to cow Jennifer, but Gizmo was still plenty wound up. "Oh, you shut up, you stinking crud muncher! I've had it with you people! I'm sick and tired of scurrying around like a bunch of sissy mice, too scared to face the cat to get out of this stupid city."

He didn't have a chance to go on; from the shadows, Malchior reached out, his hand glowing green, and grabbed Gizmo by the scruff of his neck. "That will _do_," Malchior drawled before removing his hand.

Gizmo hung like a limp kitten from his grasp, then dropped to the floor, taking Melvin down with him. Melvin gasped. "What did you do to him?"

"He's just going to take a little nap, sweetheart. Maybe he'll wake up with his temper improved," he added, helping her disentangle herself from Gizmo.

A vision of Malchior, his face covered in sticky blood, raced back into her mind. "Melvin, come here," she snapped.

Melvin looked up in surprise, but Malchior got the problem instantly and released her. "Easy, Raven. We're all just a little tense is all."

The repulsed part of her wanted to cry out "_A little?"_ but instead she bit her lip and glared.

"I'll go keep watch," Jennifer offered, slipping past him.

Malchior nodded and scooped up Gizmo to stick into the nearest bedroom, Melvin trailing dutifully behind, like a baby duck following its mother. When Malchior returned, he shut the door while Melvin remained inside.

For a moment, they shared a stressed look before he loped over to her side. Her nerves were tense like a thread pulled too tight as he abruptly stopped at the other end of the couch.

"Are you going back to sleep?" he asked, pulling off his scarf.

She inched away. "No."

"Good, then move your legs."

She frowned, tucking her legs in quickly when he sat down too close. She watched curiously as he balled his scarf up and laid it on the couch. Next he curled up on the cushion, her spine aching just watching him, and laid his head on the scarf. "…so you actually do sleep."

He made a sleepy noise that unnerved her. It sounded so human. "Mmm. Yes. Please shush."

She glared, half tempted to argue when she realized he was asleep already. She studied his sleeping face, wondering over the apparent humanity it displayed. _How much of you is real? Was last night the real thing, or is this real now? What are you, and can I trust you?_

Malchior slept on. After an uneasy moment, she reached out and tucked some hair out of his face.

He had been right last night—whether she hated or feared him or not, they needed him. The thought did little to appease her worry. But for then, it would have to do.


	13. Company

**No, I did not abandon this fic. Expect some more chapters shortly. As in tomorrow or so. Also, slightly scary to note--there's 666 words in this chapter. No, I did not do that on purpose. Yes, that is freaky.**

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Malchior slept straight through the next day, which suited Raven just fine although during the night she had to move because he had started to stretch out, straight onto her legs, before she finally abandoned the couch for a chair. Gizmo woke from his magic induced nap slightly less ornery than he had been before, but he shut himself away into the house's den, trying to see if there was anything electronic that he could "salvage" from the house. Raven didn't bother to stop him—if there was anything useful, they could use it. Besides, she doubted the house's owners would even want to come back.

_Actual, it's a wonder people keep coming back at all,_ she mused, distracting herself from her boredom with an internal debate on if the city would be to pull itself back up from this.

And then she paused to wonder why she was so certain it would bounce back at all. No doubt it was the other Titans' doing—it was hard being a pessimist amidst so many damn optimists. She smiled to herself.

"Well, at least it's nice to see someone smiling for once."

Raven blinked and looked up; Jennifer stood at the living room's door way, the rolled up map in her hands. Raven eyed the map and shrugged. "Just thinking about some friends."

Oddly, Jennifer looked nervous. "The Titans?"

_Does she remember anything from before, or has she really forgotten?_ It was probably selfish to hope so, but Raven didn't scold herself. "Yes?"

Jennifer shuffled in and took what little space was left over from Malchior's slow uncurling. "I met Beast Boy once. He thought I was a friend of his," she paused, rolling the map back and forth in her hands.

"He could have been right," Raven replied in her most neutral tone of voice.

Her heart sank a little when the geomancer shuddered. "I hope not. I read up on her later—Terra, the girl he mistook me for. I read about what she did—to you. With Slade."

Raven decided to change the subject—she could see where this was going, and despite the years since Terra had betrayed them, the sting of never went away. "What's done is done," she said simply, trying to sound final. Jennifer nodded, almost relieved. "So then…was there something you wanted to talk about?"

Jennifer blinked, looking back up. "Oh. Actually, I was just thinking of where to go next—there's been some rumors, you know, of a costumed hero making trouble for Slade." She held the map up, shaking it at her. "We're not that far—I was thinking if it's a friend of yours maybe they could help us." Raven sat up. "Maybe help us find your friends, or my family, or Melvin's family. Shit, even Gizmo could try and find one of his friends. What do you say?"

"Yes," Raven agreed instantly. She remembered those rumors, hoping it was Robin or Starfire (or Beast Boy or Cyborg. She wouldn't care who it was if at least she could find one of them).

"Great!" Jennifer grinned, relieved that her plan had at least one supporter. "We've all been going a little stir crazy, so we need to get moving anyway. Now we just need to ask the others-"

"I agree," Malchior announced, making them both jump.

"I say we go tomorrow night," Melvin added, peeking out from inside the den.

"Gizmo, which way you voting?" Jennifer asked, shaking her head in amusement.

"Let's get out of this crud-infested crap hole!" he shouted and then added, "about FRIGGING TIME."

"Amen," Malchior replied and promptly fell back asleep to Melvin's amusement. Jennifer shrugged at Raven, but at least the blonde was smiling again.

Raven settled back into the chair. If they were leaving she was going to need her rest. As she drifted off, she smiled to herself. _Hold on, guys, I'm coming._


	14. Incident

**Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out--life caught up to me. Expect another new chapter soon--maybe for New Year's.**

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"Got everything?" Jennifer asked once more as she grabbed her duffel bag.

"Yes, _mommy,_" Gizmo drawled, flipping the panel shut on the machine he wore on his back before slipping it back on.

Raven raised a brow. "Were you actually able to fix that?"

Gizmo made a disgruntled noise deep in his throat that she wasn't quite sure how to qualify as a response. "Needs more work," he grumbled. Melvin patted his shoulder despite him trying to brush her hands away.

Raven frowned when Malchior held out his hand to her. "C'mon then," he said.

She glared but relented, placing her hand into his. He hauled her up then swept her up in his arms despite her shouts. "I can _walk_," she snapped.

Gizmo snickered. "Barely."

"Can we not fight before we even get out of the house?" Jennifer asked balefully. Mercifully, they fell silent. "Alright, let's move out." She paused only a moment to reach down and grab Melvin's hand before she opened the door.

They hurried out in the shadows. Dusk had already fallen, but there was still just a bit of light left for them to still see not that it lasted long. Quietly, they started out, Jennifer in the lead. They had decided they were just going to keep walking tonight, no breaks. Jennifer and Gizmo had peeled over her map hours before they left, tracing out this route to the shelter where the rumored costumed hero had frequented. Raven did her best to settle in the dragon's arms and tried not to brood; they all had to be alert tonight.

Melvin was the first to speak; to her credit, they had gone a fair amount of the way before she spoke. "Can I have an energy bar?" she asked as they paused at a corner.

"No, crud muncher," Gizmo growled. "No breaks."

It took all her will power not to snarl at the pintsized villain right there. Instead she settled for almost kicking him in the head.

"Hey, watch it-!"

"Shut it," Malchior growled. (Ever since he knocked Gizmo out, the smaller boy had kept a healthy fear of the dragon, so for once he fell silent.)

"C'mon," Raven said after a moment, "let's keep going." _It's going to be a long night,_ she mused as she heard Gizmo grumble again.

A half hour later, as they ran nearly headfirst into a battalion of Sladebots, Raven couldn't help but want to kick herself for being right.


	15. Surreal

**Happy New Years, y'all!**

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"If you drop me again, I swear I'll break the 'no killing' vow Robin forced us to take," Raven growled as they ducked behind a pile of debris from a collapsed building.

Malchior spared her a smirk before setting her feet on the ground and letting her stand on her own. For once, she was able to keep her balance and stay upright. "I'd clap for you, but no time I'm afraid," he told her before vaulting over the pile of debris.

Raven sighed and lowered herself to the ground. Gizmo and Melvin both joined her while Malchior and Jennifer tried to fight back. A loud blast on the other side of the pile almost sent some of the loose concrete falling on them before Melvin got a shield up. "Melvin, can you keep this shield up for a little bit?"

"I'll try," the little girl frowned as she scooted over to her.

"This blows chunks," Gizmo grumbled before another blast made them flinch.

Disturbingly, (for her that is), Raven was in perfect agreement. "We need to get ready to run as soon as they get us some cover."

"Oh, and how are you running?" Gizmo sneered.

Before Raven could retort, the pile behind them exploded. Melvin screamed but managed kept the shield up.

"CRUD!" Gizmo shouted as the Sladebots spotted them. One robot tried to jump at them but Malchior vaporized it. "Whoa."

"Thanks," the dragon panted. They looked up to find him perched on a street light, before he jumped back down into the fray.

Another robot tried to reach them, firing a blaster at them.

"Raven," Melvin gasped as the shield buckled.

"Jennifer!" Raven yelled. The geomancer turned back and used the rest of the debris to flatten the robot.

"Are you guys okay?" the blonde teen shouted, backing up to protect them better.

"For now—we need to move. We're sitting ducks," Raven answered. "Can you get us out of here?"

"What about Malchior?"

Raven frowned. Before she could answer a white beam of magic cut a swath through some robots before rocketing up into the sky. "He'll be fine."

Jennifer nodded. "Alright, let's-" She was cut off as a blast came from nowhere, knocking her straight off her feet and onto the shield.

Melvin screamed, letting the shield fall so Jennifer fell nearly into Raven's lap.

"Melvin, get the shield back up!" Gizmo snapped as Raven reached out and dragged Jennifer over. She saw the shield flicker back into life from the corner of her eye as she began to examine Jennifer's head.

There was scorch mark, right above Jennifer's collar bone. "Damnit," Raven whispered pressing her hands over the wound, trying to makes sure the bones were still whole. _One ounce of magic, please, that's all I need, _she thought distractedly. "I don't think anything's broken but-"

"Raven!"

Raven looked up in time to see a Sladebot, standing over them, blaster leveled straight at her face. It fired once and the shield flickered hard. _It's going to keep shooting until Melvin gives out and it gets us too._

She actually wished Malchior was there, if only to help Melvin and Jennifer.

It blasted the shield again, and this time Raven practically felt the shield fall. "Melvin, Gizmo, get ready to run."

"No!"

"_Stupid_, don't-"

Suddenly the robot slumped over, onto the shield. Melvin yelped as the shield gave way; Raven grabbed Jennifer and tried to scramble backward as robot fell, scant inches from her side.

In its back, a red, X shaped shuriken was lodged firmly in place.

Raven stared then turned; in front of them, a dark, caped figure climbed up the pile of rubble to greet them. In her lap, Jennifer groaned as she woke back up.

"Jennifer?" Red X asked.

"Red!" Jennifer gasped, then staggered up.

Raven decided she must be dreaming as the two of them reached out and hugged each other. "What's going-?"

She could practically hear the smirk in his voice when Red X interrupted. "Well, look who it is. Sorry, sweetie, no time to talk. But feel free to join in the ass kicking anytime. Jen? Little help here?"

Melvin reached out and patted her hand as Raven stared after them incredulously.

"Dude, I don't even want to know," Gizmo said, summing up Raven's feelings entirely.


	16. Wonder

The fight ended not long after that—Red X wasn't the only person that joined them. A small group of apparently normal people joined them and were armed with stolen blasters or weapons of their own. When the fight was over, Malchior seemed to materialize at Raven's side.

"Old friend of yours?" he asked, nodding to Red X who was now talking to Jennifer, trying to check her injury from the blast.

Raven grunted. "Something like that. He says he's on his own side but he tends to flip flop."

Malchior nodded approvingly. "I can admire that."

"The flip flopping?" Melvin asked with one hand wrapped around Raven's hand.

"Working for himself," he clarified. Before Raven could drawl that his side w_as_ the 'bad' side, Red X and Jennifer walked over to them.

"I like to do things my own way," Red X told them, obviously having overheard them. "You guys sure make an interesting bunch."

Jennifer cut in, introducing them all. Gizmo was glaring balefully at the rogue thief (he hadn't forgotten Red X blowing up his car apparently), but Melvin and Malchior both appeared charmed to make his acquaintance.

"So, which side are you working now, X?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.

She could practically hear the laughter in his voice when he answered "my own, as always. It just happens to run not too far from your own."

"Red, you wouldn't happen to be the one all the rumors were going on about, were you?" Jennifer asked, looking eager.

That time he did laugh. "Those rumors about the 'mysterious hero' from around here? Kinda. But mostly, they seem to have me confused with the other guy."

"What other guy?" Raven interrupted. _Please, let it be a Titan. Please, for once, let something go my way._ Malchior and Jennifer gave her a curious look at her tone, which was nearly as eager as Jennifer's had been.

He was probably smirking under that mask, but Red X turned and gestured them forward. "Follow me and find out. You can explain why you aren't fighting anymore on the way."

It was galling having to explain everything to the thief, but since he seemed to be willing to help the city for once and ally with her, Raven told him. Red X took a moment to signal to someone in the distance before commenting.

"Huh. That's certainly puts a damper on the plans for getting you guys back together and beating the shit out of Slade."

Raven frowned as Jennifer and Melvin helped in through a gap in the wall that acted as an entrance to their hideout. "What plans?"

Before anyone could answer, a young man spotted them and began to slowly walk over, as if drinking in the sight of her. He was about as tall as Red X now, his hair had grown out to brush his shoulders, and his costume was now black with a V shaped blue insignia but Raven still recognized her team leader. "Raven!" Robin finally shouted and ran over to her.

Trying desperately not to cry, Raven buried her face into his shoulder and held on for dear life. At least _someone_ was apparently listening to her prayers once in awhile.


End file.
